Simmer Monster 100L 2014 Test Review

THE LOW-DOWNA super-funky looking new shape from Simmer boasting heaps of complicated and technical ‘X-Steps’ and channels underneath and on the rails. Based on a MXR Van den Berg design in conjunction with renowned speedsailor Martin Van Meurs, the Monster 100 is, we’re told, actually 105 litres. The board is divided into three sections (forward, midships and aft) and designed with GPS sailing and speed via control in mind. The Monster sits alongside the light wind Godzilla shape and the Freemove series in their line.

BRAND CLAIM“A true medium to high wind machine for medium to heavy weight riders. It’s easily controlled when chop rises in stronger wind speeds. The wide tail provides back foot support in the lulls without compromising the agility. The board can be taken up to really high-end speeds and executes gybes with full control.”

PERFORMANCESo, first up, thanks to some frustrating Canarian customs and logistical issues, a load of our Simmer gear for this test was held up until right until the very end of our trip. So without much water time we had very limited range of conditions and head-to-head opportunities to really weigh up this product against the rest. That also meant we got to use fewer types of sails on it as well. The overriding impression of this board is that it’s incredibly deceptive. Similarly to another Simmer product we had earlier this year, (Freemove 120), we found this board really ‘slow-feeling’ and cruisy, but, it’s when you line it up against others that it becomes clear it’s no slouch. The intricate bottom shape sucks down onto the water – and we’re talking a really rough and challenging water state here – to deliver a unique feeling of control and trim. OK, there was some nose flight in the extreme chop and swell, but generally this is a very manageable, settled board and it provided a big contrast to the full-on slalom boards and racier freeracers from this selection that we had with us, that tend to ‘let fly’ more over the swell. In terms of gybing this is a total carving machine that really encourages you to get over on the rail as much as possible and we can only imagine how much fun it would be to crank some on it in nice flat water. We’d have liked to have had more time to try out different fins as we were generally over-finned on this test anyway, thanks to a surplus of circa. 30-knot wind! A lot of shapes in this category would suit smaller, carbon foils than the largely soft, G10 models supplied by most. We think the Monster would follow suit and allow budding racers to really progress with more powerful, but small-enough-to-control blades underneath.

THE VERDICTThe Monster comes with a lot of bells and whistles that obviously tested the CNC shaping machine’s capabilities. But actually the sophisticated profile delivers a very controllable and likeable sailing sensation, not to mention amazing gybing capability. Easy to sail and uber controllable in rough water, the Monster 100 has superb potential and ‘growing room’ for aspiring racers and speedsters.